Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs, better known as cellular operators) allow computers to connect to networks employing WWAN protocols such as Global System Mobile (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), etc. Although originally used for voice transmission, these networks can provide efficient data services to their end users, who have computers or other devices equipped with WWAN connection hardware.
Prior systems required individual WWAN hardware developers to provide custom configuration user interfaces for managing wireless data service over the WWAN. These interfaces allowed communication between user interfaces and WWAN devices, but their proprietary nature meant that a given user interface was compatible with only a specific WWAN device. Furthermore, user interfaces of previous systems often required users to configure connections through a highly manual process.
Previous systems additionally had the disadvantage of requiring synchronous communication between WWAN device drivers and their configuration user interfaces. If a WWAN device driver required a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in a prior system, for example, the PIN would have to be entered by the user, sent to the device driver, and processed by the device driver before any additional commands could be issued. The requirement of synchronous communication imposed by previous systems often resulted in lengthy periods for configuring WWAN devices, since configuration commands could only be sent when previous commands had been completed.